


Five Promises that Vala Asks Daniel to Make

by adventurepants



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-26
Updated: 2010-11-26
Packaged: 2017-10-15 22:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/165595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adventurepants/pseuds/adventurepants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And if he could please get Cameron to stop making fun of her Hanukkah tree, that would be greatly appreciated as well."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Promises that Vala Asks Daniel to Make

1.

That he never grow his hair out again. She’s seen old pictures, and it’s not pretty.

“You’re so lovely the way you are now, Daniel. I’m just looking out for your best interests.”

“Right,” he says, looking annoyed. He waves a hand at Vala’s head. “Like you’ve never made any questionable hair decisions.”

“I’ll have you know that I absolutely haven’t,” she says, jutting her chin out a bit. “Though I can’t say the same for Qetesh.” Her eyes darken at the thought, and she’s gone for a second, before she can shake it away. “But as you know, I can’t be held responsible for her actions.”

He sees her expression change, but he doesn’t mention it. She knows that he knows, and that’s enough. “I’ll do whatever I want with my own head,” he says, petulant as ever.

She leans over and kisses him, a quick peck on the mouth. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, darling. It’s my head now.”

2.

That he let her celebrate the holidays in the manner of her choosing. And if he could please get Cameron to stop making fun of her Hanukkah tree, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

“Vala. I’m not sure how I can phrase this any more clearly than I’ve been doing for the past week and a half. You’re not Jewish. And even if you were, Jewish people don’t put up trees for Hanukkah. Where did you even get all those little dreidel ornaments, anyway?”

“Craft store.”

Daniel sighs. “You just want to _pretend_ to be Jewish because you think it’ll make everyone give you presents for eight days in a row. I can promise you right now that’s not going to happen. If you want a tree so badly, why don’t you just celebrate Christmas?”

“Because Christmas is silly,” she says as if it were obvious, and he should know better. “A baby placed in a woman’s womb by magic, who’s going to believe that?”

He just stares at her.

“Oh, right. Well whatever, my faith is my choice, and all I ask is that you respect it.”

“Fine, whatever. I give up. Enjoy your Hanukkah tree, I won’t say another word about it.” He turns to walk away, but she catches his arm and pulls him back to her.

“If you’re good,” she says, mischievous smile on her lips, “I’ll make sure you have a _very_ special eight nights as well.”

3.

That if they have a boy, he not ask to name him after his father. The name Melburn is not a fate she would wish on any innocent child. She thinks Clare is lovely for a girl, though, and starts calling the baby by that name before they even know they’re having a daughter.

When that pivotal ultrasound finally occurs, it’s settled. “Clare Jackson,” Vala says, with a note of finality in her voice.

“We don’t have to name her after my mother,” Daniel says, afraid she’d suggested it just to please him. “If there’s another name you like, we can use that one.”

“No,” she answers, shaking her head. “I don’t want any other name.”

4.

That he not let Jack into their home when she’s not there if all he’s going to do is play cruel jokes. _Poltergeist_ scared her quite enough on its own, thank you, and she doesn’t need him sneaking in to stack all the chairs on top of their kitchen table, or to unplug the cable box so it’s all terrifying white noise when she turns on the television.

She leaps off the couch and dashes into the kitchen, so spooked and frenzied that she bangs her elbow in the doorway. She grabs it and hisses out one of the colorful Earth curse words that Cameron taught her, as Daniel places the last chair back on the floor.

“They’re here, Daniel, they’ve come through the television! Oh, God, don’t let them take me!”

“Hold on a minute, calm down. What are you talking about?”

She rubs her injured elbow and shivers exaggeratedly. “The _poltergeists_ , they’ve made the TV make that awful noise, and now they’re in the house and they’re going to do things.” She looks back to the living room. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t build this neighborhood on top of the burial ground, I promise! I wasn’t even on the planet when it was built!”

Daniel ignores her and walks past her into the living room, where she’d left the TV on in her haste. He turns it off and pokes his head behind it, resurfacing almost immediately with a loose plug in his hand.

“The cable box was unplugged. Jack must have done it before he left. No poltergeists, just Jack thinking he’s funny.”

Vala’s in the doorway, frowning. “Well, he’s not.”

Daniel rolls his eyes. “Believe me, I know.”

“And you’re not very nice, either,” she says, beginning to pout. “You let him do that bit with the chairs.”

He plugs the cable box back into the wall and goes toward her. “To be honest with you, I had stopped paying attention. That’s something I tend to do when Jack starts acting weird.” He pauses. “Unless… unless he’s acting weird because he’s had a repository of ancient knowledge placed in his head. But anyway, I’m not sure why all this has you so frightened. It’s just a movie. We’ve been through plenty worse in our real lives, haven’t we?”

Vala shakes her head. “No, no, not like that. Not trees trying to eat us, or swimming pools full of skeletons. Or _clowns._ ”

Daniel quirks an eyebrow. “Well, no, but.” He tugs at the hand still cradling her elbow. “It’s just a story. There’s nothing in the house but you and me. Nothing’s coming through the television to get you.”

She sighs and bites her lip and thinks about being mad at him, but ends up throwing her arms around his neck instead. “Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

She’s still hanging onto him when she asks, “Can we put a clown in Jack’s bedroom, then?”

5.

That he never ascend again. That he never… go away at all. She’s asked Samantha about the year he was gone, but she doesn’t like to talk much about it.

“It was… I missed him very much. We all missed him. A part of our family was gone, and… well, you can imagine how hard it was to think we’d never see him again. That he’d never be our diplomatic voice of reason, or be there with us in our best and worst moments.”

Sam stops talking then, and suddenly seems to be very far away. Vala is left waiting awkwardly, trying not to let herself imagine how she would have reacted to his absence if she’d been around back then.

Abruptly, Sam turns to Vala and smiles. “But he came back. Don’t worry too much about it, Vala.”

She gets even less out of Jack, and all Teal’c will say on the matter is, “Losing Daniel Jackson was difficult.”

So she gathers up her courage one night and asks Daniel if he ever regrets coming back.

He almost asks her which time, but decides against it, and says, simply, “No.”

“Not even a little? I mean, to be all-knowing…”

“Is a poor trade,” he finishes. “What’s the fun in knowing everything if you can’t be _part_ of everything? I’d rather be here.”

The “with you” is left unspoken, but she hears it just the same.


End file.
